General Methods 71 



and observe well, but lack that power of reasoning 

 which is necessary to make diligent observation and 

 experiment effective. 



The inductive method, alone, makes the mere ob- 

 server; the deductive method is chiefly the method of 

 the philosopher and the dreamer. Students often 

 become mere observers, because they lack the general 

 notions which give meaning to the observations which 

 they make. The true incentive to effort is thus want- 

 ing. This can often be remedied by calling attention 

 to the larger problems underlying the subject of study. 

 Thus a general idea of the theory of evolution by 

 natural selection, is the chief- cause of that remarkable 

 activity in biological research which has been so 

 marked since the appearance of Darwin's "Origin 

 of Species." There is hardly any phase of biological 

 investigation to-day that does not owe its fascination 

 to the stimulus which that theory gives, and to the 

 light which new observation adds to the factors of 

 organic evolution. 



No adequate idea of the full import of this great 

 generalization can be conveyed, directly, by means 

 of language, as is frequently supposed. But some 

 phases of it, such as the struggle for existence, can 

 be comprehended from observations on plant and 

 animal societies. Whether it is wise to develop this 

 conception in the pupil's mind is a question which 

 the teacher must decide according to circumstances. 

 It certainly gives new meaning to many facts in plant 

 and animal life which otherwise are meaningless. 

 Darwin's great work was the result of the inductive- 

 deductive method. The writer knows, from his own 

 experience as a student, that many teachers of ad- 

 vanced science are failures, as teachers, because they 

 do not arouse in the student's mind those great con- 

 ceptions which give meaning to things observed by 

 the student, and add that intellectual interest which 



